A Peculiar Change
by transformersjellybeanaddict
Summary: AU what if Jacob Portman was much younger when he was taken to Miss Peregrine's loop? What if, under certain circumstances, a baby Jacob was brought to live with the other peculiars after his family had died from a hollow attack? Find out in A Peculiar Change
1. Chapter 1

**Hello anyone reading this! I got the idea for this story on the day that I watched MPHFPCan idea , I hope that you enjoy it.**

 **Please R & R. It will give me an idea if you guys want this continued.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own MPHRPC *wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh* *sigh* but I do own any and all own characters that may be introduced in this story, Please no plagiarism, I had this Idea fair and square. Now please ENJOY.**

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Harried footsteps thumping on earthy land, a faint choked off cry trailing behind a hooded figure; followed by bone chilling squelching sounds. The figure took a sharp turn to the left and almost skids on the mossy forest floor, but quickly rights themselves and carries on at an even more of a rushed pace.

A roaring in the distance forces the person to veer shakily to the side, disturbing the treasure in their arms. The person runs for a long time, taking turns and twists in stride. Anything to get away from the predator lagging behind. They stop near the end of the woods, the trees and mud diverging to a dusty road, just long enough to catch their breath. They take down their hood, revealing a balding man with grey hair, and piercing grey blue eyes, holding something close to his heaving chest.

He looks down, at the cherubic face standing out from the bleak colors of the evening, and his eyes soften."So young" he whispers "So young, to have lost so much" The words are tinged with agony and longing. Staring down at the face, memorizing it so he would never forget it, he allowed himself to mourn his losses; his son, his daughter, their families'. Gone because of him and his selfishness, his inability to leave things alone. He may have continued to say something else, if not for the bounding rumble of feet closing in. Eyes widening, and blood pumping he held the precious cargo tighter and vaulted off of the ledge of grass he stood on, racing down the chalky pathway.

The thud of something immense in weight alerted him that the Hollow was out of the forest. Breath coming out in labored puffs, coloring the air with mist, He hastens his pace and sprints to the last hurdle. Willing his old bones not to give out, to get him to the loop in time to save his grandson. He runs over a small creek, scrambling to the other side while trying to protect the babe from the harsh landing, He jumps up a small hill, and almost collapses in relief at the sight of murky pond water.

Looking over his shoulder, he trips up the uneven outskirts surrounding the lake, and picks his way to his once home, hyper aware of the danger so close by. stumbling over debris, he picks his way to the back door, put off by what the once proud house was reduced to, but does not stray for long, knowing that it is an illusion. Striding through the wreckage of the broken house to the back garden, he clutches the bundle even tighter, treasuring what could be his last moments with his grandson, rushed as they were.

The loud clang of something metal falling over pushed him out of his thoughts,He climbs up the conveniently placed ladder, and jumps over the wall. He walks down the uneven path leading to the beach at the bottom of the cliffs. His grandson takes that moment to wake up, striking blue eyes filled with tears as the salty smell of the ocean filled his wrinkly nose. Hushing the baby so as not to draw the attention of the hollow any more, he reaches into his pocket and brings out a ragged blue bear, the size of his palm, and places it in his grandson's view. Quieting immediately the baby reaches out with stubbly arms and smiles a gummy smile at his bear. The heart warming moment was broken by the quake of the hollow jumping to the cliff's ledge and smiling as it smelt it's prey, the macabre imitation of happiness twisted to fit the grotesque face.

Diving feet first off the last couple of steps, and landing on the soft sand, he propelled himself forward to a cave opening. Smiling in glee at the sight, and ignoring the baby's sudden rise in sound, he didn't notice the looming shadow until it was too late to run.

A thin, but firm tentacle weaves around his waist loosely, shocking him enough that he stumbles forward in in surprise, he shouted, and twisted, managing to detach the appendage, and, without looking back, attempts to dive into the loop, a tentacle grabs at his ankle, halting his movements. He's pulled back, inch by inch, and with a baby in his arms, he couldn't do anything to stop it. Gazing down at the squalling baby, he makes a decision... He lets go.

Throwing himself backwards at the hollow, making as much noise as he possibly could, he attacked it; ripping, tearing, biting, kicking, anything he could to keep his baby safe, to buy them both some time for the others to get here, hoping that they were hearing the commotion. Even with his old bones, he dealt a lot of damage to the hollow, black blood streamed from open wounds and bruises bloomed for the hits that had connected.

The power imbalance quickly reared it's head, the hollow was bigger in size, stature and strength. Looking death in the face, Abe Portman did something never done before. He looked into the space where the hollow's eyes would have been, and as a last ditch effort of survival, his voice barely above a whisper, he spoke. "Die.

For one split second, nothing happens, the hollow and man lock onto each other, one pair of eyes, on smooth skin. And then, the hollow crumples, taking the old man with it. Being crushed under the limp hollow, Abe's brain was trying to process what was happening, disbelief and awe battled sluggishly at the forefront his mind. Just as shouting became prominent to Abe's drained, frail form over; the flapping of wings was heard from above him.

The slight swish of Miss Peregrine transforming lulled him into a sense of security he hadn't felt in a long time, making him open is eyes with difficulty, looking around frantically. Miss peregrine's grim face swam in and out of his view, as his body struggled to stay alive after exerting so much energy, a thought halted all else. Jacob. H struggled to open his mouth and to move his tongue at the same time."J-J-Jacob, wh-where is Jacob?" forcing himself to turn his head, his tense body relaxing slightly at seeing the child wailing, in the hands of a still Emma.

He let out the breath he had been holding, feeling the knot in his gut unfurl at seeing all of his friends surrounding him, one last time. He felt a coldness seep into him, starting from his toes and working it's way upwards. Knowing that he was dying, Abe looked to where Miss Peregrine was standing. He had one last thing to do.

Seeing Abe look at her had Miss Peregrine's breath hitching in grief, as she walked towards him, hiking up her skirt, she sat on her knees and grabbed the hand closest to her, flinching at how cold he was becoming, she took a breath, and waited, waited for him to tell her what he needed to before he- A tear tracked down her face.

"Miss Peregrine" He started "You have taken care of me for a very long time-"He was interrupted by frame wracking coughs, a choked off sob came from one of the boys, she didn't look up to check which one. Once he had recovered enough to catch his breath, Abe continued "I do not have much time left, so please listen carefully. Baron found me, he sent one of his uncured hollows after me and he-he killed all of my family, every one of them had their eyes ripped out, because of me. All, except one, my grandson from my son's side; Jacob. He was at a friend's house when Baron attacked. I got away at the cost of my children and their families' lives. I didn't know what to do, so I took Jacob, and ran here. I know that I am not going to live, so I beg of you, please take care of him, he has my peculiarity. He can see hollows, that will put him in Baron's sights, which puts him in unimaginable danger" His voice grew raspier and raspier as he went on, the coldness was up to his neck now and his hand was like ice in Miss Peregrine's grip.

Taking a breath, Miss Peregrine squeezed his limp fingers, with a voice thick with emotion, she got out "Not to worry dear, we'll take care of him" Seeing the relief in his eyes almost broke her resolve not to cry, but she held on for him, and her children, they would need her when they were grieving, Emma and Enoch especially. They both held a strong affection for Abe, and they would grieve the hardest out of all of them.

His voice so faint she barely heard him, He said "I'm glad, I met all of you. My family" He closed his eyes, and didn't open them.

Not when Emma screamed for him to come back, not when Olive's glove's set on fire from her anguish, not when Millard's tears wet the ground, not when Enoch ran away, or when Victor ran after him, tears in both their eyes. Not when Miss Peregrine hunched over his still form, silent tears wetting his face, not even when Hugh released his bees to try and sting him back to life.

He just lay there. Dead.

Miss Peregrine stood up, wiped the tear tracks off of her face, and cleared her throat "Come now children, we must take baby Jacob back home before he catches cold." She strode up to Emma, and as gentle as she could be, she took him. Emma let go reluctantly and took after Miss Peregrine with the other children, following her like lost puppies.

They edged away from the sluggishly bleeding hollow, and trudged over to the time loop. they went in and out in a uncomprehending daze, following Miss Peregrine with a single mindedness telling of emotional turmoil.

When they got inside, Olive went straight to the kitchen to boil some water in the kettle, Emma walked to her room, Victor had taken Enoch to his lab to give him something to do. Horace, Hugh, and Millard cuddled up on one of the sofas, a strange sight as all three boys weren't very touchy feely individuals, exempt for extreme occasions that called for physical contact. Bronwyn followed Fiona out to the garden, making sure the girl would be alright, and to make them both feel grounded.

Miss Peregrine sat on the opposite sofa to the boys, cradling the passed out baby to her chest, noting similarities and differences between him, and Abe. They both had the same arch of their noses, and their eyes were the same shape, but his lips, full and red must have come from his mother, his father hadn't had such thick lips, neither had his father before him. He had small eyelashes, and small sprouting light brown hairs. He would be a real heart breaker when he was older.

The sharp whistle of the kettle boiling over shook her out of her musing, and caused the babe to twitch and his eyes to open. She holds her breath, waiting for the child to start crying or screaming, but the child does something unexpected, he opens his beautiful blue eyes, yawned at her, and grabbed her index finger with his tiny chubby ones.

Her eyes widened in shocked awe, and she knew. She knew that with that one small motion, she was a goner for this baby in her arms. She felt an overwhelming protective urge for this small creature, she could feel the small, but _strong_ grip he had on her fingers, and could tell that the hole in her heart that Abe's death had created, would be filled and smoothed over by this child.


	2. Introductions 1

**oh my goodness!**

 **I just got notifications left right and center, i feel amazing. Dedicating this chapter to my friend Kisha who has helped me plot out this story after I told her i didn't know how it was gonna go.**

 **On with the story. Oh but before we forget, we imagined Jake to be at 4- 4 and a half months old, anyone want me to change it, Reveiew, Pm me, I will consider all ideas.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own MPHFPC/sadly/ But.. I do own any and all original characters that i Introduce here**

After an hour or so staring at the baby, thinking about what had occured just hours before; Miss Peregrine absentmindedly took out her pocket watch, and was stunned to see that she only had 47 minutes to left to start on dinner.

Skirting around the sleeping boys with Jacob secured to her chest, she walked out to the fouyer and up the stairs, careful not step on the creaky floorboards so as not to wake the babe dead to the world in her arms. Passing by Bronwyn and Fiona's room, she took a peek in, and smiled slightly at the sight of the two girls curled around each other, both using the other as a security blanket. Gingerly closing the door, she continued down the hallway to her room.

Transferring the baby to her other arm, she reached into a hidden pocket in her blouse, and drew out a rustic key, the handle twisting in a way reminiscent of ivy vines to form a P. Slipping the key in the lock and turning it, she opened the door and was immediately hit with the comforting smell of honeysuckle radiating from the pores of the room.

Depositing the slumbering bundle at the foot of her bed and after making sure he wouldn't fall off, Miss Peregrine got to work. She set about creating a secure nest to place her new charge into. Gathering all the blankets in the room and placing her softest pillows in an oval, she took a throw quilt from the chair at her dresser, and tucked it over the mess of linen, re arranging them underneath so there were no lumps, she stood back to admire her handiwork.

A whistling outside brought her attention to her watch. Seeing as she had 15 minutes left to get to the garden, Miss Peregrine picked up Jacob, and stationed him in the middle of the burrow she had created **.**

Hurrying down the stairs, she took a moment to breathe, to collect herself so as not to seem harried, and carried on to the living room. She muffled her steps, knowing the boys would need their sleep after their ordeal. Grabbing the apron from the hook, she made her way outside, determined to feed her children in time.

Lidded eyes squinted open, taking a minute to shake off the after affects of sleep he let out a tiny yawn and looked around for the nice lady, but ended up staring in childlike awe at the big space he was in. lifting his hands clumsily, tubby arms moved in excitement to slap together, only to stop as he realised that his bear was was not in them.

Blue eyes immediately filling with tears, and a cry starting up in his throat, Jacob took one last look around to make sure he couldn't see his bieski. Then, he _screeched,_ long and loud _._

The screech tapered off, but he caught his breath and let out an unearthly wail. He shrieked, and cried until he turned blue in the face, anything he had to to get back his bear. He cried and cried for what felt like a life time, but was really ten minutes, before a loud slam shocked him enough to get him to stop. Closing his bloodshot eyes in distress, the baby didn't see the person who had forced the door open in their haste to see what was upsetting him.

Footsteps coming closer to him made Jacob whimper in fear, and turn his head away. Calloused but gentle hands petted his head, and a deep, rumbling voice soothed away his anxiety.

He opened his eyes, and saw a big person kneeling down in front of him, a part of him was scared of the person immediately; but then he looked into their eyes and saw a softness like his jaja, he knew this person wouldn't hurt him. Sniffing, and rubbing his eyes, he reached out for the big person. Grey eyes widen, and fill with uncertainty, but the boy eventually attempts to lift the child, one big hand feather light supporting the baby's head, brushing the growing brown strands, the other cradling his body.

His caution is rewarded with a gummy smile and twinkling eyes, and, much like his headmistress before him, Victor Bruntly fell under the baby's spell, with nothing but a feeling of wonderment, and an urge to protect, as strong as any mother's.

The creak of the door signaling someone else's arrival, made both boy and baby alike look up from their staring contest. Miss Peregrine in all her glory stood in the doorway with an unreadable expression on her face as she looked at the two, after a few beats of silence apart from the baby's squealing, Miss Peregrine held out her arms; silently commanding him to hand over the child.

Paling considerably, Victor gave the squealing baby to the pensive woman, hands shaking slightly as they were relieved of the was quite a feat that while holding a baby babbling around a few strands of her hair, Miss Peregrine still looked scary enough to send hollows running.

Victor murmered an apology, and brushed past her to go to his room, when a hand grabbed the edge of his sleeve, making him pause. Looking back revealed that it was Jacob, not Miss Peregrine that was grabbing him. The baby was chattering angrily at him and tugging on his arm, daring a peek at Miss Peregrine, showed that she seemed mostly amused at the current turn of events.

With mirth thick in her voice she gestured at the child "It would seem as though he wants to go with you" As she spoke, she placed the appeased child into his arms, and closed the stood outside the door for a while, then shook his head and walked down to his room, little Jacob cooing, and patting his cheek along the way.

When he reached his door, he was forced to open the door with his foot, pushing the handle down and kicking it open. Stepping inside, he looked down at the baby in his arms, and smiled. shoving the door closed behind him as he moved forward.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello all, I'm sorry for not updating as fast as the other two, I thought that since so many people wanted me to continue this even further (gasp of surprise) I should at least do my very best to make sure you like and understand what you read.**

 **Thank you to all those who reviewed, favorited and/or followed either me, or this story. To the reviewers who gave me critricism THANK YOU YOU AMAZING PEOPLE. (Insert awkward silence here) I don't mean to say I want criticism more than compliment (both please), but I need to know if I'm doing something wrong so it's much appreciated.**

 **To the Guest who asked about wether this would be movie canon or book canon- I'll tell ya when I figure it out, I'm thinking about having a splice of the two, tell me what ya think**

 **To the guest wondering about pairings- Person, I do not plan on having any romantic pairings yet, so when my baby's older, and has more options THEN you can all fight for your respective pairings, sound good?**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own MPHFPC (jeez, shoulda tagged this with Angst) it belongs to who it belongs to (newsflash, I have no idea who it belongs to).**

 **On with the story**

Locked in her room with no one to see, her facade shattered. Great, heaving sobs wracked her frame, but Emma was too wrapped up in her misery to notice. All of the realities she had refused to believe, had wanted to ignore, came crashing together to paint a despairing picture.

Shuffling forward and all but collapsing on to her bed, Emma shifted to her side, and got lost in memories. Memories of _Him_. His hair, his smile, his eyes. God his eyes, so clear and brimming with life,they were one of the things she loved most about him. _She would never see them again_. The revelation brought forth a whole new wave of tears, reaching out blindly with one hand, Emma grabbed the nearest object, a pillow Olive had stitched, and clutched it close to her chest.

Burying her head into the worn material, Emma mourned a life lost, and a life that would never be. She stayed like that for a few hours, curled up in a ball, tears and snot smudged around her pale face, reliving happier days. She had no idea what she was going to do, what life would be like for her from now on. She had known that one day he would stop coming, he had a family, it was as expected. But, she hadn't thought that he would be _gone_ so soon, she hadn't even been able to say goodbye. She was distracted by the baby's screaming and wriggling, when he said his last words.

Turning on her back, pillow still tucked in her arms, Emma scowled through bleary eyes at the ceiling. 'If that little brat hadn't been with him' she thought 'He might have been able to run away, to make it to the house, but he didn't because of that damned baby.

Getting up, Emma threw her pillow on the bed, and went to her door.

'It wasn't safe to be this small' He worried, his lip between his teeth 'He's just too tiny.' Reaching a hand out careful of his strength, Victor held the baby's fragile hand in his, bothered at how the tiny fingers were dwarfed by his large digits. A soft noise of curiosity brought his attention to the owner of said hand, looking at him with a crease between thin eyebrows.

Chuckling at the cute expression, he released Jacob's hand, and instead blew a wet raspeberry on the infant's stomach. Grabbing feet just before they kick him, he dives in to deliver another one, this time eliciting a piercing shriek filled with glee. Watching so that Jacob doen't hurt himself, Victor blows raspberry after raspberry on the bared skin, he sees blue eyes sparkle, and pudgy cheeks mottle red from laughing.

He ends up laughing himself red along with his charge. Tears streaming down his cheeks make him realise that he isn't entriely crying from happiness. Hunching in on himself, Victor puts his head in his hands, and weeps. He, unlike the others, hadn't had a chance to grieve over the loss of a family member. He had been too busy with Enoch to notice it, but the second that Abe had died, a part of him had cracked. It was only now, when he was alone, with all but a baby in the room with him, did he really feel the absence of warmth from the man he had considered a brother.

A warm touch made him look up in confusion, only to give a choked laugh at the face of the worried child before him. walking forwards he picks up the baby and just, looks at him. Trying to see what made this child so special, that a man who prized family above all else, would leave his one behind for.

After what could have been hours, Victor sighed and was ready to look away, when the he noticed something. The baby's pupil's were steadily growing in size, as if seeing something new for the first time. As suddenly as it had happened, his pupils thinned to a normal size.

Stretching his chubby arms out unsteadily, Jacob grasped the cheeks of Victors face, staring into his eyes, his face getting closer and closer jacob reached forth-

And bit Victor on the nose. Jolting back, more out of shock than out of pain, Victor detached the slimy gums from his face, and gave a slightly hysterical laugh. It was as if the baby had seen his unspoken question, and had set out to answer it in the most bizarre way.

A knock on his door led his attention away from the enigma in his arms.


	4. Chapter 4

A pained wail tore through the once silent house, a long and drawn out sound of distress only an infant could be capable of.

Muffled bangs, clatters, and the rare stifled curse (courtesy of Enoch) all transited through the house at the unexpected sound. The slamming of feet on polished wood becoming novelty as the residents of the building, all awoken by their youngest charge, charged to the baby's nursing room.

Victor arrived at the door first, barreling inside and pushing past the furniture, rushing to the faintly shaking crib. Miss Peregrine not far behind him, hair hanging by her shoulders, not yet put up. Closely followed by a harried looking Olive; one glove on, one off and dressing gown inside out.

Walking forward briskly, Miss Peregrine stood behind Victor, and watched as he checked over the infant, turning him this way and that to see what was hurting him, hushing him as he cried and flailed.

The creak of floorboards announce the arrival of the other occupants of the house. As the two eldest of the house try to comfort the baby, whispers break out, sleepy yet concerned gazes all trained on the child thrashing around in their eldest brother's arms. As the braver few step closer to try and get a closer look at what was ailing the baby, a particularly loud cry shocks them enough to halt them in their tracks.

"What's wrong with him?" Enoch asked sharply "why's he crying like that?" With his questions, came more from the younger children. What's and why's flowing through the chaos of the room like smoke. The noise seemed to aggravate the child more, as just as he had started to calm he broke into a bout of screaming, voice hoarse with overuse.

Claire, clad in only a pink nightdress, let loose a small sound of distress, and hid behind Hugh; Bromwyn and Claire not looking too far behind her . Eyebrows crowded together in dismay, Miss Peregrine took the baby from a still Victor and looked at him, straight into his pain clouded eyes, and tried to understand what was hurting him.

A sigh from the back of the group took everyone's attention. Emma, in all her ruffled glory, strode forward and snatched the crying baby from Miss Peregrine's slack grip. Taking a moment to give the room at large a look of pure bad temper, she placed Jacob over her shoulder, not looking at his tear stained face, and delivers three sharp pats to the center of his back.

Gasps of shock and anger arise from the the room's occupants. All as one, the younger children; Hugh, Claire, Millard, Fiona, Bromwyn and Horace, all take steps forward. only to be held back from racing across the room by a loud belch. Sighing contentedly, the child started to babble happily, shocking everyone but the girl holding him.

Rolling her eyes, Emma turned the baby over to give him to Victor, when he leaned his head forward and, eyes bright, gave her a great, wet squelching kiss on her cheek. Leaning back, he clapped his hands and cooed at the mark he left. Reaching around, he was handed over to an eager Victor, swept into his arms to be checked over.

Looking forward wide eyed, Emma reached up to her face and trailed her finger faintly over the saliva left behind in the baby's over enthusiastic 'thank you'. Head slowly moving to the child, she steps forward her hands clenched, and after a moment of deliberation, takes a breath and gestures to be given the baby.

Looking to Miss Peregrine, Victor reluctantly handed over the infant. And watched with rapt attention as Emma seemed to just... wilt, as though her strings had been cut. Gathering the baby closer to her chest, she, like many before, her looked into he baby's eyes and was enraptured, blue eyes on blue eyes. If her body language hadn't eased Victor's mind, the way her face grew soft and thoughtful, did.

Someone clearing their throat snapped everyone from their gawping. Turning to the direction of the sound had everyone looking at an unimpressed Miss Peregrine. Reaching into her night dress, she brought out her pocket watch and pointedly gestured at the hands. Yawns broke out all around the room, the time of the night finally catching up to everyone.

"Off to bed now children, I wouldn't want anyone feeling tired in the morning" instructed the woman with a tired smile. Enoch gave a grunt and stalked off, legs clad in fluffy pink slippers. After a few more hesitant looks at Emma and the baby, the rest followed, some followed the others to make sure they got to bed, and some (Claire and Hugh) were carried to bed by a stumbling Bronwyn.

Leaving with a lingering look at Emma, Victor stomped back to his room, missing his bed. Groaning inwardly at the though of having to wake up early to feed the baby with even less sleep than usual.

Emma took no notice of Victor's inner turmoil, instead focusing all of her attention on the small human in her arms. Blue eyes open but crinkled at the edges in joy stare up at her, so similar yet so different to her love. Small fingers so like Julia's when she had been this age.

This wasn't a monster who had been the reason her Abe had been taken away, this was a victim, someone who's life had been changed so much in such a short time. He had no control of what had happened, or the fate his family had met.

Humming a tune, Emma started to twirl around the room, lulling the baby back to sleep, and comforting herself after coming to her conclusion.

Unnoticed in a dark corner of the nursery, a soft smile fraced Miss Peregrine's smooth face, shoulders relaxing in relief, she took one last look at the sight of her charge's dancing, one asleep and the other coming to terms with the new reality she had just realized Grinning, she sloped off back to her room, hopefully to get some fitfully undisturbed sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Helooo, my (hopefully) faithful readers! I am really so so sorry for not updating sooner, but time flies while you're stuck in a stuffy building (What can you do?).**

 **Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed and or commented on my story, It means sooo much.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own MPHFPC, (so painful) but whoever did is awesome (I am buttering you up)**

 **R &R as you please (Don't tell anyone, it took me 5 minutes to find the & sign)**

A shadow, quick and light footed, treads smoothly through the thick bush that would have stopped a lesser person in their tracks. Hearing heavy breathing, but seeing nothing; it walks through the derelict land, safe in the knowledge that it's... _**companion**_ is close by.

Carrying on through muddy ground, it walks with a single mindedness befit to a man on a mission. It strides forward, towards an imposing building. Not many people would be able to see this building at first, it was hidden in plain sight, but it would be hard notice if you weren't looking for it; it was as if it didn't _want_ to be seen.

Checking behind it, the figure stops at a crack in the wall, big enough for a small animal to fit through, but not for a grown man. The shadow takes a breath, and becomes an intangible black mass. It slips through the badly plastered wall with ease,it comes up on the other side, floats for a second; and becomes tangible. It stands and waits for it's partner.

Nothing seems to happen for a while, the figure just stands there, but after a moment or so, the crack in the wall starts to lengthen, it stretches out, little pieces falling to the ground. It stretches until pointed tips of pink flesh filter sluggishly through the gap that is being made.

When the hole becomes wide enough, a pointed leg, and then an arm, emerge from behind the chipped wall, moving until an enormous figure is standing in the crudely made doorway, blocking whatever sunlight may have streamed in.

nodding it's head at the imposing creature, the figure, now identifiable by the light as a male, turns it's back to the being, and begins to walk towards a forked passageway.

A maze of hallways greeted the pair, behind the right door a dark path, twisting and turning lay behind a grossly misleading cherry red door. Behind the purple door; a greenhouse of dangerous plant life, some carnivorus, others playfully wicked. The blue door in the middle; either a death trap, or a pathway to a safe room, depending on the choices the shadow would make.

Taking a wide stance the shadow walks forward, and chooses the blue door, the door to possible answers. Placing his hand flat on the space a keyhole is usually, the shadow closes it's eyes, holds it's breath and waits. When a small but clear click is heard, the man visibly relaxes, shoulders drop, and he sags forward.

Releasing the breath he had been holding, the man listens closely, and when he hears heavy breathing, he walks forward-

-and through the wall.

Sinking through the wall, the man holds his breath and tenses his muscles. Hearing accompanying footsteps behing him, he keeps going forwards.

Emerging on the other side, he collapses onto his knees onto a surprisingly clean carpet. Taking a moment to reconcile himself, the shadow pulls his head up with visible difficulty, and almost faceplants at the sight he sees in front of his very eyes.

There, clad in a black suit and red tie, stood The Baron in all his grey haired sarcastic glory, swearing rapidly in different languages at a _coloured cube._

"-ERFUCKING, HUNK OF PLA-oh, hello Blake" Breaking off from his _colourful_ rant, Baron subtly slammed the chromatic cube onto the table resting in the corner of the room.

Walking forward, he bent slightly and offered his hand to the gaping man "Now, now my friend, I apologise for you having witnessed that, the 'Rubix' cube is quite... frustrating." Staring open mouthed at the sharp toothed man, it took a while before Blake slowly moved his arm up, and was helped to stand.

Looking around the room at a higher vantage point, the now named Blake, furrowed his brow in confusion and turned his head to ask Baron a question, when a large crash had them both turning to the doorway. Moving towards them is an unseen force throwing anything in it's path to the side, it carries on with it's path of destruction until it stops, standing close enough to Baron that he could feel it's breath, warm puffs of air moving his hair slightly.

Eyes darting around nervously, unable to see the threat right in front of him, and turns his head slighly to Blake, eyes never leaving the space in front of him.

In a rough voice he he forces out a few choked off laughs "Ha ha, It would seem Blake, that your hollow is getting restless, maybe we should feed it" Dazed expression flipped to one of indignation, Blake walks froward, Baron's milky eyes leaving the invisible being unwillingly at the unexpected movement, tracking his movements until he stops just to the side of the warm breath.

Lifting his arm, Blake leans slightly on the Hollow, watching Baron's face carefully, waiting for something. After a moment of unsure silence, he speaks "I learned a few things on the run with a hollow; never give them caffeine, they become grouchy if they don't get enough sunlight, and that they are more intelligent than we give them credit for" Shooting a meaningful look at Baron, He continues "They may be mutated past recognition, but they do retain some of their humanity. They feel and think like they did before you're _experiment_."

Seeing Baron open his mouth, Blake hurries on " Yes, it was an experiment, I know that, you know that, and he" He stops and gestures at the open air next to him "Knows it too" As if hearing itself being brought into the conversation, the invisible force huffs out a sound of acknowledgement.

Eyes wide with surprise, Baron puts on a shaky smile, unsure how to react to this new development, but when he gets the confidence that his life isn't at risk, he adds a little more teeth.

Stepping back he brushes the non-existent lint from his blazer, and says in a smooth voice "Now now, Gentlema-men" Changing the word at the last second at the growl, he carries on at a more steady rate " I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement, It isn't every day that a new _discovery_ is made about our brothers and sisters, the hollows."


End file.
